From Fear to Flow

5

Extroversion – the social dimension

Introduction

The personality dimension most strongly related to interpersonal information seeking is extroversion. For extroverts, information seeking is often a form of social interaction. They frequently find information through discussion with others, such as friends, family, peers, superiors or teachers. In addition the extroverts’ upbeat temperament shines through in their enthusiastic and spontaneous searches. Extroverts often have a task-oriented, practical approach to information seeking, as opposed to introverts, who tend to be more analytical and reflective.

One outgoing searcher describes his way to collect information in Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1 The outgoing searcher

Extroverted persons are ...